Today was exactly how you'd draw it up - Carlos Zambrano goes seven strong innings, Derrek Lee is the hero, and Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood slam the door shut.
Today's game was full of good stuff
- Big Z almost got in Big Trouble in the first, but Soriano's throw ended the threat. Teams must learn to not run on our outfield, especially if Pie is in center.
- About Felix Pie, he has a hurt hand and will get plenty of rest. His next start should be Thursday against Matt Morris, as the Pirates will send Tom Gorzelanny and Zach Duke out on Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday is an off day.
- I'm looking for something that Fukudome can't do. We know that he was an awful shortstop when he came up in Japan, but, other than that, I guess he can't roll the tarp out with the grounds crew
- Water, bananas and "some product" are what kept Zambrano going. No bananas today, just the mystery product. But he said in his post-game that he feels like a monkey now. I guess the mystery stuff is whatever William Hurt was taking in Altered States.
- OK, I was wrong to not worry about Soto's throwing this Spring. He's 0-for-7 and get extra work today. Pittsburgh has some burners, so he'll be tested
- Woody gets the day off tomorrow, Marmol (who has already gone two straight days) is set to close, if needed. Howry should be fresh (meat), too.
- Sorry, Bobby, but you are meat - for now. Let's see that turn around soon.
- Gorz and Duke are the first lefty starters the Cubs will face this year. Let's see what Lou does with the line-up
- My faith in Chicago baseball fans is coming back - I'm hearing lots of "Theriot is not a starter" on blogs, within comments, and now on the radio. One guy on the SCORE said he wouldn't start on 80% of the other teams. Bravo, bravo.
Pittsburgh tomorrow, Philadelphia on Friday. I'll be back with pitching previews for the Pittsburgh series later tonight.
I've added a weather section at the top right. For home stands, you'll get someone's personal weather station from Wrigleyville - closer to the lake than the park. Road trips I'll figure out, hopefully the same. But I don't know if there are as many fellow weather-nerds outside of Chicago.
7 comments:
I've been pleased with the number of fans who have "turned" on Theriot so far, but I wonder how quickly these people will "turn" back around.
It isn't so much a turn as a tipping point. It has become safe to say "gosh, he's a hard worker and all, but, he really isn't much of a hitter or big league shortstop". Truth's out.
I think Lou is tired of seeing Theriot hit ground ball after ground ball both in Spring Training and in the first six games. Unfortunately, Hendry is barking up the wrong tree in Brian Roberts, when clearly the Cubs can roll with DeRosa at 2b and need help at SS.
The problem is that there is a huge shortage of quality offensive shortstops in the league right now. The Cubs have one of the worst five. In 2007, Theriot's .672 OPS ranked him 20th of 24 MLB SS with 400+ PAs.
I'm almost of a mind to play Fontenot at second and see what DeRosa can do at short. Four of the Cubs starters are strikeout-flyout pitchers (Z, Lily, Hill, Dempster) and Marquis is on a short leash. I'd like to measure the difference between having 100 more OPS in the lineup against having slightly worse range and hands at SS.
Bottom line is the Cubs need to dig up a trade, and something plausible might be Jack Wilson from the Pirates. Wilson would be a significant boost in defense and OPS, and probably come cheap.
Lou Piniella is about the last person who has picked up on the fact that Ryan Theriot sucks. (I'd like to claim that I lead the Internets in picking up on this, but I don't think I factually can. Oh well.)
As often as I've run the numbers on it, I'm not sure whether moving DeRosa to short and using Fontenot at second is better than using Cedeno at short. They're both better alternatives than the current product. Or use Cedeno when Marquis/Dempster are pitching and use Fontenot when Hill/Lilly are pitching (can go either way for Big Z.)
Wilson's on the DL now, and I don't think he'd be good enough to justify trading anything decent for him, or paying his salary - which you have to figure Pittsburgh would want to unload. Darwin Barney is a couple years away, but Ronny Cedeno might be ready now.
I think Piniella knows what he has ... there's just not much to do about it. We all agree Fontenot and Cedeno are no much better. What's the opposite of an embarrassment of riches? Three slappy, poor-man's Ecksteins (Eckstein used as a derogatory adjective in the first place), does not a keystone combination make.
The Dodgers are going to have to unload Furcal at some point this year. His value lies more in his defense so, considering what's already been said about the Cubs being more flyball-prone, maybe he wouldn't be worth the price to the Cubs. (I'm guessing they'll be asking a lot since there were hardly any rumors concerning him this off-season.)
Still, he's better than Theriot in every aspect of baseball, and I can't see him NOT being available at some point this year.
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